The present invention relates generally to knitted articles and methods and, more particularly, to a knitted band, especially an elastic band, with an integrated drawcord suitable for use in apparel and the like, and to a knitting method by which the band may be fabricated.
Many items of wearing apparel incorporate an elasticized band encircling a body opening, such as the waist opening in a lower body garment, to insure a snug and secure fit. In many such articles, it is common to incorporate a drawstring or drawcord in conjunction with the elastic band to enable the wearer to obtain a tighter and more secure fit than accomplished by the elastic band alone.
Traditionally, the fabrication of an elasticized waistband or other elasticized garment opening with the addition of a drawcord has been accomplished by first sewing an elastic band into the waistband or other garment opening utilizing longitudinally extending sewn seams and then, as a separate manual step, threading a separate drawcord or drawstring through the tunnel area defined by the seams between the garment and the elastic band. Disadvantageously, this process can be labor intensive and expensive unless performed by an experienced skillful apparel maker.
One attempt to overcome these disadvantages is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,928, subsequently reissued as U.S. Pat. No. Re. 33,586, disclosing the fabrication of a woven, knitted or braided elastic band with a pull cord being "embedded" in the band as part of the knitting, weaving or braiding process. Advantageously, the elastic band with embedded pull cord of this patent may simply be sewn into a garment in the same manner as with conventional plain elastic bands, thereby eliminating the conventional necessity of threading a drawcord through the garment's waistband area as a separate manual operation. One disadvantage of this product, however, is that it is commercially sold at a relative premium which offsets to a significant extent the labor and cost savings realized.
An alternative approach to fabricating a composite elastic band and drawcord product is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,040,244 and 5,186,779. These patents contemplate the adhesion of a drawcord to one surface of a previously fabricated elastic band, utilizing an adhesive which will retain the drawcord in place along the length of the band until fabrication of the composite band into a garment but will release the drawcord from the band thereafter to function in the normal manner of a drawcord. The composite band/drawcord of these patents is marketed commercially under the trade name ZIP CORD. One difficulty of this product is that the releasable nature of the adhesive necessitates careful handling of the composite band prior to fabrication into a garment so that the drawcord does not become separated from, or shifted in its relative disposition to, the underlying band. Thus, the common practice of winding elastic bands into rolls or festoons has generally been avoided with this composite product to limit the risk of displacing the drawcord. Instead, this product has typically been prefabricated and shipped in the form of endless loops of discrete lengths for incorporation into a garment.
A more recent proposed alternative is a composite elastic band/draw cord product currently being offered by Asheboro Elastics Corp., of Asheboro, N.C., under the trade name EZ CORD, wherein a drawcord is sewn to a previously fabricated plain elastic band utilizing a common zig-zag sewing stitch as a separate sewing operation subsequent to the knitting or weaving of the elastic band. While the EZ CORD product can be sewn directly into a garment in the same manner as the above-described patented product without the necessity of threading a separate drawcord into the elasticized area of the garment, the necessity of performing a separate sewing operation necessitates an additional capital expense for sewing equipment, thereby increasing the manufacturing expense of the product, and additional care must be taken to avoid penetration of the drawcord itself with the sewing thread so that the drawcord remains free to move relative to the lengthwise extent of the elastic band.